Inside the Skate Scandal

Whether it's underage Oksana Baiul tanking up on Long Island iced teas and taking her car for a spin ...

Whether it's underage Oksana Baiul tanking up on Long Island iced teas and taking her car for a spin,
Tonya Harding sending the goon squad after Nancy Kerrigan, or those nice Canadians getting bilked by
a bribed judge, there's always scandal to be had somewhere in professional skating. I guess. I don't
really follow skating that closely (really!), but it's a sport that exposes a great many very young
individuals to a great deal of fame, and that's just a recipe for disaster right there. Putting that
much pressure on little kids is just begging for a crop of one-gloved nose-jobbers and triple divorcees.

Failing to shed any light on this debate are the guys in The Twin Atlas, in spite of an album title
promising in-depth coverage. Even "The Game Is Fixed", the one song that seems on the surface primed to
address the theme at hand, contains more references to baseball than triple axels. Of course, the way
Sean Byrne and Luke Zaleski make music together, it hardly matters what they're singing about-- the lyrics
are secondary to the floating ambience they strive so hard to create. Byrne, you may know, was a central
member of Jersey psychedelphians Lenola, a band that split this summer, and The Twin Atlas has for four
years served as the outlet for his more pastoral side-- this is actually the Atlas' sixth full-length
this millennium.

The band's sound hasn't change much in that time, but it's a great sound, and the duo has gradually refined
what they do, each time turning out a more concise, more consistent album. Their last one, Bring Along
the Weather only came out like six months ago, and it brought their rustic glow to full shine. But if
that album was a hazy weekend in Pennsylvania Dutch country, Inside the Skate Scandal is a day trip
to Cape May: breezy, bright and close enough to Atlantic City that you can catch the occasional glimpse of
neon.

One criticism that's easy to level at The Twin Atlas is that their sound is inherently monochromatic.
Those iridescent harmonies, like a choir of sedated Doug Martsches, sound great, but they never really
change from song to song. To make up for this, they hint at other genres, which works to a degree. "Sound
in Town" is a little bit country, while "Walk Right Up" is-- no shit-- a little bit rock 'n' roll. But in
each case, it truly is just a little bit. The country of the former lies mostly with its rhythmic sway,
while the latter breaks through its pop façade with a guitar buzz that could easily have come off a Lenola
record.

The boys slip some weird folk flourishes into the mix on "Washing You Away", a strange, pensive song full
of little ponging noises that sound like they wandered out of a 1968 Pink Floyd session. "Plan to Erase"
is a gently strummed acoustic number thrown off course by a drunken banjo, sleigh bell percussion, and a
Melodica that nods to some sort of medieval Beach Boys. The instrumental finale, though, titled "It Will
Pass", is a nice touch, a throbbing confection of soaring slide guitar, organ harpsichord and soft-toned
synth.

It's the best parting shot The Twin Atlas have worked up yet, a fitting way to end their strongest album
to date. They seem to be consciously crafting their albums now, as opposed to simply throwing a bundle
of songs in varying stages of development together and calling it a record. Maybe this has something to
do with bringing the project out from Lenola's shadow and trying to make it more presentable in the process.
But whatever the reason, The Twin Atlas are moving in the right direction.